The following are five of Mexico‘s main recent actions on the environment, a matter that is increasingly regulated in international agreements.

First and foremost, on August 12, 2022, the Strategy for the Implementation of a Sustainable Ocean Economy 2021-2024 was published in the Official Journal of the Federation, which establishes the meaning of a sustainable ocean economy for Mexico.

Then, on August 17, 2022, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) in collaboration with the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) and the German Society for International Cooperation in Mexico (GIZ) launched the platform the Information System of the Transparency Agenda for Climate Actions at the Subnational Level.

This platform will allow states to annually evaluate their progress in implementing measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.

Then, on November 17, 2022, Mexico presented its progress in reducing its impact on climate change during the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

There, Mexico increased its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 22% to 35% by 2030.

Environment

On December 2, 2022, Mexico attended the first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on plastic pollution and announced its accession to the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution.

Overall, the coalition’s objectives are to: limit plastic consumption and production to sustainable levels, enable a circular economy for plastics that protects the environment and human health, and achieve environmentally sound management and recycling of plastic waste.

Recycling

Finally, in December 2022, Mexico introduced two programs related to waste management. The first, the National Program for the Prevention and Integral Management of Waste 2022-2024, aims to:

• Improve the capacities of the urban solid waste recycling market.
• Promote changes to make the regulatory framework more suitable for sustainable waste management activities.
• Promote infrastructure and equipment for sustainable waste management activities.
• To achieve a culture of responsible waste generation and management.
• Promote conditions for the professionalization and formalization of waste management services currently provided by the informal sector.

The second, the National Program for the Prevention and Integral Management of Special Handling Waste 2022-2024, has the following objectives:

• Provide the necessary information on special handling waste to improve the formulation of policies at different levels of government.
• Promote the prevention of special handling waste generation and the adequate management and use of special handling waste.
• Promote a legal framework that clearly assigns responsibilities for special handling waste management activities to the different levels of government.